Outsiders Love
by UnknownNewsie
Summary: This is a revised story. Original still up. You must read this story. Samantha aka Sweetz ran away from an abusive family and found a place to stay at the Manhattan Lodging House. Her family wants her back, she fights, newsies fight...romance surfaces.
1. Chapter 1

Hi there, so i was reading this story that I wrote many many many (damn I'm old) years ago...and decided...it needed a new image. So here's my revised chapters from Outsiders Love. review and enjoy!

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It was close to midnight when I woke up in a cold sweat. I looked around the room, unsure and disoriented about where I was. Then it finally hit me, I was in the Manhattan Lodging House where the majority of the residents were newsies. I climbed off the top bunk and hopped onto the floor. Paused only a moment or two to make sure that I didn't wake up anybody in the process. I walked over to the window where the fire escape was, opened up the window and climbed up the ladder to the roof.

As soon as I climbed on the roof I was hit with a powerful gust of wind…almost knocking me over. Walking over to my favorite side of the roof where if you look down you can see the main street and the quietness of the early morning. As I sat down I could feel eyes burning in the back of my head. That strange feeling that someone was watching over you. Clenching my fists, ready for a fight, I turned my head to be face to face with Racetrack.

"What are you doing up here Sweetz? You could get sick if you slept up here."

"Couldn't sleep." Thinking for a moment, why was he asking what I was doing? "Since when did you or any of you start caring about my health?"

"Sorry for asking. I'll make sure next time I feel like being a good person, I'll just bite my tongue and walk away." And that's exactly what he did. He walked down the ladder and back into the building. I sat there watching him until I finally decided to go down myself and get ready for a new day.

Once I got to the distribution center the line was already off the ramp. As I was standing in line to get my papers I was nudged forward. Already in a restless mood I looked back and I saw Mush and Snipeshooter shoving each other, once again.

"Knock it off or someone is going to lose their heads!" I shouted at them. They immediately stopped and just started to argue about who's going to get the Mayor's daughter first.

After twenty minutes it was my turn to get my papers. Got 30 papers instead of my usual 50...I'm blaming it on Mush and Snipeshooter that I wasn't in the mood to do my usual selling. As I was walking off the ramp I could hear the door open to the building and footsteps quickly catch up to me. An arm grabbed me and whirled me around to find me face to face with Morris.

"Where you going pretty lady?" Morris' arm loosened as his face came closer, giving me a big whiff of his nasty breath. "Why don't you skip your selling today and I'll take you on a little date in Central Park."

"Morris, get your hands off me." Morris released his hold on me and took a step back.

"Yes ma'am." He tipped his hat towards me. "Now how about that date?"

"Yeah that's what I want to do, go to Central Park and meet up with your ugly ass face." A few snickers could be heard but I ignored it. "Now go find yourself a tramp and leave me alone." I quickly turned around to run myself into Oscars chest. "Oh god, you smell worse than your brothers breath!"

"Now now, that wasn't a nice thing to say." Oscar said as he took his hand and ripped my papers out of my arms.

"Oscar," I growled. "give those back or there will be hell to pay."

"Oh I'm so scared of a girl." He threw my papers into the dumpster that was next to the ramp. "Oh gee, I'm so sorry."

"You rat faced pompous ass!" I curled my fists and punched him right in the gut. As he was hunching over I figured that would be a good time to get some distance before he got his air back…but I didn't go so far. Morris, who saw the whole incident happen, came up from behind me and grabbed my arms and put me into a headlock. Fantastic. Loving my chances of escaping here. "Get off of me Morris!" I yelled at him trying to stomp on his feet or kick him in the shin.

"Nah, I don't think you were being nice to my brother over there. I believe you owe him an apology and a date." I swear I could hear him smirking in my ear.

"I'll take it from here." Morris' arms made me turn towards the voice and it was Jack Kelly. The famous cowboy. Jack gave Morris a punch to the face and then turned around to find Oscar in a headlock with Racetrack holding him. Morris' hold on me was loosened so I wriggled out of it then head butted Morris. He fell to the floor, holding his nose while blood was bursting out.

"Hey, you okay?" Jack asked. I only nodded and went to the dumpster to get my papers. Luckily I didn't have to climb in, they were sitting on some old cardboard boxes. As I was walking out of the gates I felt a tap on my shoulder. Guess who. Racetrack.

"You should come to Tibby's after your done selling. I'll introduce you to the guys."

"I'll think about." With a smile I walked away towards my favorite selling spot. My favorite selling spot was in front of this new restaurant called Chierre Pier. As I was walking towards my spot I felt a pair of hands on my waist. I turned around and there was my brother.

"What the hell you doing here?" I hugged him and basically squealed into his ear. "Aren't you still living with ma and pops

"I came here to warn ya." He pulled away and frowned. "Ma and pops are having a hard time with money. They want you to come back and watch the rest of the kids while the rest of us are out there getting jobs."

"I can't come back, you know I can't." I replied…could my day get any worse?

"He's going to send the bulls after you if you somehow don't find your way back."

"Let him send the bulls. I can't go back there. I can't go through what I did before."

"I understand. Just be safe. Watch your back. Here's a few pennies." He handed me a handful of change, kissed my cheek and walked away.

I finished selling my papers close to noon. With the money my brother gave me and the money I made selling papers, I'd be good for a week. I started walking towards Tibby's where I usually got my food. But never stayed long enough for the other newsies to notice me. As soon as I got there I saw newsies in the windows. I walked in, lowering my gaze until I got to the bar and ordered my food. As soon as my food was handed to me I walked outside, across the street and sat on the park bench.

"What are you doing out here?" I looked up and saw Racetrack. "I asked you to come in and join us. Nervous?"

"I guess I am. You're the only newsie who takes time to talk to me. I've been in that lodging house for three weeks now and no one seems to care to know me." I looked at him and then to the ground.

"Come on." He held out a hand and helped me up and walked me inside Tibby's.

We walked to a table that was already occupied by Kid Blink and Mush. How these guys didn't know I existed but I knew every single one was beyond me.

"Who are you?" Kid Blink looked me over and asked as I sat down next to him.

"I'm Sweetz." I replied as I sat down my food on the table and stuck my hand out to see if he would shake it.

"Where are you staying Sweetz?" He ignored my hand so I put it back to my side and stared at him dumbfounded.

"Wow Blink, didn't think anyone could be stupider than Mush over here." Racetrack said as he got a good swipe at that head by Mush. "This is the girl that stays at our lodging house."

"Oh I see. Didn't know we were having girls staying in our lodging house." For a second there I thought Blink lost track of mind, he started to stare at his fork. But then all of a sudden he got a huge smile on his face like he was remembering something. "Did you guys see that girl that was getting hustled by the Delancey's this morning? Man, that was hilarious!" Mush chuckled at Blink's comment.

"Wow, hot but so not smart." I mumbled to myself. I put money down on the table and stood up. "By the way, that was me that was getting hustled, thanks for your help." I walked out of the restaurant and down the road. Not really knowing where I was going, just avoiding anywhere that had newsies.

Thinking back on my life. It wasn't that hard. Knowing people who's family turned them out onto the streets…when I just decided to leave. My ma and pa acted like they were bullies instead of parents. Beating us up every night. Especially me since I was the oldest and I wasn't their perfect little angel they had wanted. My brother and sisters couldn't understand that I couldn't go through with that anymore. I couldn't be treated like I was something they could hit and not feed for days. Like I was some rag doll.

I quickly realized that the sun had gone down and I was near the Brooklyn Bridge. My favorite place to just think and enjoy the view. Standing in the middle of it, I held onto the edge and held on as I looked down to the freefalling distance that was between me and the water.

"You're not from around here, are you?" I turned around into some blue eyes. Speechless and blushing like crazy I couldn't think of anything to say. "Cat got your tongue?" He smiled as he moved closer to stand by me.

"No, no. I'm from Manhattan. Just taking a walk. Ended up here." I looked back down into the water..

"It's kind of late for a girl to be walking alone. If you don't mind, I'll take you home."

"Well my ma always taught me not to trust any strangers." I smiled, just teasing him a little. I was going to let him walk me home just because he was so darned cute.

"Well just in luck, I'm no stranger. I'm Spot Conlon. Leader of the Brooklyn Newsies. The toughest ones about."

"Well nice to meet ya Spot Conlon." I stuck my hand out and he shook it. Respectable. "Shouldn't you tell anyone where your going?"

"I already did. Saw you from my dock down there. By the way, whats your name?" He asked me as he motioned me in the direction towards Manhattan.

"I'm Sweetz. Newise of Manhattan." I looked at him and he grinned.

"Sweetz, eh? Very cute." He chuckled. "What made you become a newise? Running from something?"

"Guess you could say that. Running far and quick from my family. Friend of my brothers told me to sell papers and that's what I'm doing." I looked over and he nodded. Almost like he could relate to my situation.

"Family that bad?"

"For me, yes." We walked in silence for a couple minutes before he stopped grabbed my arm and looked at me.

"With eyes like that, I'm surprised that anybody would ever treat you badly." He lifted his hand to my cheek and gently stroked it. "What'd they do to you?"

"Sometimes looks are deceiving. Problems are hidden. Secrets aren't shared." I smiled sadly. "My family abused me in lots of ways. I don't want to go back. I'm afraid that they'll find me. That they'll use their influence to get every bull out there to get me."

"What are you doing to do about it?" He asked.

"I'll try my hardest to run and hide, but eventually they'll catch up with me. They always do."

"No they won't." he said. I looked at him in surprisement. "Your family wasn't good enough for you, but the newsie family is. We'll take care of you. Just wait and see."

"You don't get it Spot." I took his hand and swiped it off my face. "The newsies in Manhattan barely know I exist. I'm nothing there. They wouldn't waste their time protecting someone they don't even know." He looked at me and was about to say something but instead I just kept talking, "This is not your fight. This is mine. Keep out of my business." I stormed off in direction towards my lodging house. Knowing that Spot was right behind me, making sure I would make it home alright.


	2. Chapter 2

Here's the second chapter. Actually these first two chapters were one in the original. But it takes wayyyyyyyyyy too long to revise it. And I saw a lot of mistakes...whew Took me awhile. But i finally finished this second part. Hope you enjoy it. Keep up with the reviews. I definitely appreciate it.

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I walked into the Lodging House nodding to the kloppman and then walking up the stairs. I opened the door to the bunkroom and realized it was poker night. Fan-freaking-tastic. I could hear Spots footsteps start up the stairs so I made my way to the window and up the fire escape that led to the roof. As I closing the window I could hear Jack greet Spot .

"How you doing Spot, what you doing here?" Jack walked up to Spot, spitting in his hand and extending it towards Spots' direction. Spot did the same and smiled.

"Nothing much Jackey Boy, just walking one of your girl newsies home."

"Girl newsie?" Jack looked a bit confused but then it seemed like a light bulb went off in his head and smiled and nodded. "Oh yea, Sweetz, right? Not much of a talker that girl. You playing poker?"

"Of course. Why would I run out on a good opportunity to take your money?" Spot laughed as he patted Jack on the back as they walked to the poker table that they had going on in the center of the room.

"How you been doing Conlon?" Racetrack asked as Spot sat right next to him.

"Pretty good. Headlines been good to my boys. Can't complain." Spot responded.

"So you walked home Sweetz, eh? Not too talkative that one." Racetrack dealt the cards and said, "Texas Holdem, no limit. And don't be sour pusses this time." A few sniggers could be heard around the table as they waited on the betting.

"Ya I walked her home. You talk to her much?"

"I try." Racetrack replied as he put a dime on the table. "Raise your lousey rats a nickel."

"So you know about her folks right?" Spot asked as he called Racetracks bet and lit up a cigar.

"No, we don't get into that sort of thing. Basically its 'Hey, how you doing Sweetz' and 'Get out of my face' kind of relationship we have going on."

"She's mighty feisty, if you ask me." Jack added as he called the bet and chuckled a bit.

"Well I need you boys to do me a favor. She's got troubles. Big troubles. Keep an eye on her. Consider it a personal favor from yours truly." Spot said as he eyed each boy at the table.

"That serious?" Racetrack asked as he put another dime on the table.

"I wouldn't be asking this favor if it wasn't serious." Spot replied as he folded his cards. "So do we have a deal?" Spot asked as he looked around the table and saw that each one of them were nodding their heads. "Now where did that girl go?"

"Probably up on the roof. No one but her likes it up there." Racetrack answered as he showed his cards. Full house. "Read em and weep em boys….this ones mine." With a cigar in his mouth he gathered up his winnings with a giant smile on his face. Not noticing that the Brooklyn leader already went up the fire escape.

"So do you normally exclude yourself from the rest of the gang and sit up here by your lonesome self?" I turned around and saw Spot climbing the last step and watched him walk closer to me.

"You told them, didn't you?" I could feel the fear and anger rising in my blood. "I knew I shouldn't have told you anything! God, I'm so stupid!" I started pacing the roof and could feel the bile rise in my throat.

"I didn't tell them anything." He came to me and put his arms on my shoulders to prevent me from pacing anymore. "Hey, look at me." He took his hand and put it underneath my chin to raise my head so I was looking at him. "I didn't tell them. I told them you were in trouble and to keep an eye on you."

"How can I believe you?" Afraid of the answer I looked back down.

"Because your not the only one who ran away from home. Your not the only one who has ran away from problems. From their family. From their friends." He spoke so gently, his voice, trying to make me believe him.

"I have a feeling that your tough act is only for your boys." I shrugged off his arms off of my shoulders and smiled a bit. He smiled back at me and walked to the side of the roof where you could see the quiet street below. "Why?"

"Why what?" He looked back at me.

"Why do you care?" I asked as I put my arms around me to cover up from the cold breeze.

"Because I have a feeling about you."

"What kind of feeling?" My heart started to beat faster…

"Are we interrupting?" We both looked back towards the fire escape and saw Racetrack followed by Jack.

"Not at all. Whats going on boys?" Spot asked as I looked back down on the street.

"Just figured this would be a good time to introduce myself formally to the newest girl newsie." Jack walked over to me, tapped me on my shoulder, waited for me to turn around and offered his hand. "My name is Jack Kelly. Leader of the Manhattan newsies."

"Nice to meet you Jack Kelly." I took his hand and we shook. "I'm Samantha, but people call me Sweetz." I smiled a bit at that.

"And they call me Racetrack." Racetrack came over and stuck his hand out. I couldn't help but giggle a little bit. Knowing that he was only introducing himself to relieve the tension in the air.

"Racetrack, eh? Who would've known?" I smiled and he returned the smile. I looked over and realized that Spot had left us alone on the roof. Somehow he snuck down the fire escape without anyone knowing. "So what do I owe this pleasure of your company boys?"

"Spot asked us as a personal favor to him to look out for ya." Jack said. "He never does that. So you must be real special or you bribed him." He let out a good hearty laugh at that last part.

"You don't need to look out for me." I sat down on the edge facing the boys, feeling the wind at my back.

"See that's not how things work around here." Racetrack added as he sat down next to me. "When you become part of the newsie family, there's only one rule. We always have each others' back."

"Nice rule." I mumbled.

"You bet it is." Jack said. "What kind of trouble are you in? Bulls? Ex-boyfriends?"

"And don't worry. Whatever kind of trouble your in, Jack probably has you beat. He has everyone after him including the devil himself." Racetrack added.

"Its my family." I sighed. Why not tell them when they're going to find out anyways? "My family wants me back. And I won't go back."

"How far are they going to go to get you back?" Jack asked as he kneeled in front of me.

"So far, I know that they're warning about sending the bulls out to get me." I answered him.

"Well, I've dealt with the bulls a couple of times." Jack said as Racetrack coughed on a laugh. "If you don't want to go back, your not going to. And whether you like it or not, we're going to help you." I looked up at him and saw that there was no humor in his eyes. All seriousness. I smiled a little bit and felt a weight lifted off my shoulders.

"Thanks? I guess." I said.

"Trust me, it gets easier accepting help." Jack said as he stood up. He offered me his hand and I questioned it. "Time to go to bed. Carrying the banner tomorrow and we don't need newsies on the streets sleeping." I accepted his hand and we all headed down to the bunkroom. I got onto my bunk and quickly fell asleep. Maybe all I needed was to talk to someone….well whatever it was, I didn't wake up once during the night.

I opened my eyes and adjusted to the bright sun that was shining in from the windows. Confused I sat up and looked around. No one to be found. I quickly jumped off the bed and ran down the stairs to the kloppmann.

"What time is it?" I practically yelled at him. Desperate for him to answer me.

"Well," He looked down at his watch and said, "about almost noon."

"Why didn't anyone wake me?!" I screamed as I stomped back up the stairs to do my daily bath routine. As I was walking out of the bathroom I noticed someone laying on my bed. I quietly tiptoed over to my bed. Put a foot on the bottom bunk and jumped up. "BOO!"

"Holy cripes!" The figure rolled over to the point where he fell off the bed and landed face first onto the hard wooden floor. With a laugh I walked over to the other side and realized it was Spot.

"What are you doing here? What are you doing in my bed? Why aren't you in Brooklyn? Why aren't you selling?--"

"Would you shut up for two seconds." He interrupted my questionnaire as he got himself off the floor holding his head and sat on a bottom bunk across from mine. Feeling a tad bit sorry for him I sat across from him and waited a few minutes.

"So why didn't anyone wake me up?" I asked him, I think I deserved an answer.

"After last night, thought it'd be nice for you to not have to worry about selling today. Your stay here for the night has been paid for already."

"You didn't have to do that. I had some extra money on me. And I enjoy working. Keeps my mind distracted." I said softly.

"Well too late. We already took care of it. Its about noon, thought you'd be awake a lot sooner but I guess you haven't been sleeping a lot lately…so I came back and wanted to ask you if you wanted to accompany me to Tibby's for lunch?"

"I'd love to. Let me just finish getting stuff situated here and I'll meet you there in about twenty minutes." I stood up as did he.

"Or I can wait."

"Go, get yourself a soda pop, and I'll be there in a little bit. I'm a big girl now. I can walk to Tibby's all by myself." I smiled at him and he nodded. He walked towards the door and turned back around.

"Twenty minutes, your not there I'm sending the bulls after you myself." He smirked and walked down the stairs. I smiled to myself and then went to go re-make my bed. After ten minutes I was on my way to Tibby's. Beautiful weather. Could hear the birds chirping, children playing, newsies selling, sun beaming, no cloud in site kind of day. I could see Tibby's about fifty yards ahead of me and warmed to the thought of Spot waiting for me at a booth. I got that feeling that someone was watching me so I turned around and was faced with Morris and Oscar.

"Good afternoon boys." I said with a cheerful smile on my face.

"It will be." Oscar replied as he grabbed my arm and pushed me into an alley that was close by with Morris by his side. "We have a bit of talking to do."

"Well sorry boys. I have plans. So I need to be going." I stepped forward only to be pushed back into the wall behind me. "Now boys, I'm meeting someone. So please step aside."

"Your not going anywhere until we have had our….say." Morris said with a smirk.

"We didn't appreciate the way you treated us at the distribution center yesterday." Oscar said as he went into his pocket and grabbed a pair of his brass knuckles.

"What are you going to do? Hit a girl?" I challenged them.

"No. We don't hit girls." I sighed with relief. "But we do hit newsies. And you seem to be one of them." Oscar said as he took a swing to my stomach. I hunched over feeling the wind getting knocked out of me. Morris grabbed a handful of hair and pulled my face up.

"Hurts, doesn't it?" Oscar asked and before I could give him a smartass remark He hit me across the face with the hand that didn't occupy the brass knuckles. My face drooped down and I spit out some blood. That icky taste of blood was still in my mouth.

"Next time, don't embarrass us." Morris said as he punched me in the stomach. Letting me fall to the ground. "See you around Sweetz." And with a kick to the stomach they left. After a couple of moments I sat up and wiped the rest of the blood that was trickling from my lip off with my sleeve. I fixed my hair and slowly but steadily got up. I fixed my clothing and walked out of the alley. I walked towards Tibby's and saw Spot in the window. He looked at me and smiled, but then his smile faded as I saw him rush out of the restaurant to my side.

"What in the worlds happened to you?" He asked as he gently motioned me over to a bend and pulled out a bandana from his pocket, softly wiping the blood off my face.

"Just ran into some trouble, that's all." I hissed as he touched the cut on my lip.

"And would this kind of trouble have any names? Your family?"

"No it wasn't my family. It was actually the Delancey's. They didn't like that I embarrassed them yesterday." I looked down, ashamed that I couldn't even protect myself from the Delancey's.

"They hit a girl?" Spot said as his hand stilled on my face. "They hit a girl?!" He stood up and paced in front of me.

"Spot." I looked up to him and grabbed his hand. He looked down on me. "Calm down."

"They hit a girl! And you want me to be calm about it?" He asked me with controlled anger. I could see his eyes turn a dark shade of blue, something I've never seen before.

"They hit a newsie. That's all." I saw Spot take a deep breath and with our hands still connected he pulled me up to my feet.

"Your going to have a bit of a shiner here." He said as he gently touched my face. "Still hungry?" I smiled and nodded and squeezed his hand. Thankfully he dropped the issue of the Delancey's as we walked hand in hand into Tibby's.


End file.
